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Clostridium difficile

British

/ dɪˈfɪsɪli, ˌdɪfɪˈsiːl /

noun

a faecal organism endemic in hospitals and responsible for the majority of hospital-acquired cases of diarrhoea in elderly patients sometimes shortened to C.difficile C.diff

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Faecal transplants – also known as a trans-poo-tion - are already approved for treating severe diarrhoea caused by Clostridium difficile bacteria.

From BBC • Jun. 7, 2025

Fecal microbe transplants from healthy donors can treat patients with recurrent Clostridium difficile infections.

From Science Daily • Oct. 13, 2023

That means they can kill off good bacteria and lead to the overgrowth of potentially dangerous ones such as Clostridium difficile or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

From Scientific American • Oct. 5, 2023

The Food and Drug Administration cleared the capsules for adults 18 and older who face risks from repeat infections with Clostridium difficile, a bacteria that can cause severe nausea, cramping and diarrhea.

From Washington Post • Apr. 26, 2023

Excessive abdominal noise is an uncommon, but not unprecedented, presenting symptom of infection with the bacteria Clostridium difficile, which can be fatal.

From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023